PANAMA CITY — Construction has kicked off on the largest master-planned development in Panama City history.

Developers behind SweetBay, a 700-acre community at the old Panama City-Bay County International Airport site, shared their vision with members of the Bay County Economic Development Alliance (EDA) on Wednesday, comparing the plans to Rosemary Beach in WaltonCounty.

The project is being developed by Leucadia National Corp., the same developer behind Rosemary Beach, and several other master-planned communities, including Celebration in Kissimmee and Baldwin Park in Orlando.

The first phase of the development began about two months ago and will consist of 260 single-family lots, $4 million in infrastructure work and a new home for University Academy, Florida State University’s K-5 Charter School in BayCounty that will open in August in a renovated version of the old airport terminal building.

Jacob Fish of the St. Andrew Bay Land Co., Leucadia’s local office, said that while the community will take on many of the features of Rosemary Beach, it will be driven by residential homes rather than resort homes.

“We’re going to be emphasizing parks within the community similar to some of the parks you’ve seen or experienced in Rosemary Beach — large, large, green spaces that just serve a multitude of activities,” Fish said. “We think that’s a true differentiator for us in the marketplace.”

Full build-out plans include 3,200 single-family and multifamily units and 700,000 square feet of commercial space, a majority of which will create a town center at the intersection of State 390 and Baldwin Road. The community is planned in seven phases and could take anywhere from 10 to 20 years to fulfill. Developers will be required to complete $3.1 million in traffic improvements to accommodate the facilities.

Fish said the community also will consist of about 100 acres of dedicated open space, which will be accessible to the public. Homes will not back up to the water, he said, allowing instead for a 5-mile, bay-front trail.

“The scale of this site is truly unique and offers recreational opportunities and trails,” Fish said. “We really want this to be a community where everyone, not only the residents but the whole community, can benefit from an asset that’s been fenced off for years.”

The community plan also includes a marina with space for 140 wet slips and 240 dry stack storage units.

Fish also outlined several economic benefits of the project, including an estimated 790 jobs created during phase one, as well as substantial increases to property tax collections and other taxes and fees.

EDA Director Neal Wade said SweetBay and communities like it are an important asset in the agency’s mission to bring jobs to BayCounty.

“The key thing for us is, when a company comes to work here, they bring families,” Wade said. “That kind of asset is going to be an important part of that market. You want to give them that option.”

EDA project update

During Wednesday’s meeting, Wade also updated members on the status of economic development projects, citing a big one that got away.

Panama City-based boat manufacturing company Glasstream Powerboats recently announced it will create more than 100 new jobs at a new facility in Dothan, Ala.

“We did every possible thing we could do,” Wade said of the project. Dothan “had an almost-new building that was able to meet the needs of the company.”

Wade said the state of Alabama often can offer incentive money upfront, whereas incentives in Florida are distributed based on performance.

Despite losing the expansion, Wade said activity in 2014 has been positive.

“We’ve seen more action in this first quarter of 2014 than we’ve seen in two years,” he said. “We’re working more projects and they’re good projects.”